Wednesday, September 10, 2014

While primarily being a resource for individuals to do their projects, we also plan to run group sessions using Lynda.com as a great teaching tool for groups as well as individuals.

We did a soft launch over the summer for our new Digital Media Lab with well-attended sessions on Windows 8 and how to buy and sell of Ebay. We had advertised in the traditional way: in the building, on Facebook, on the web site, in the local newspaper.

Now, with the start of school year, we are eager to reach out beyond the usual library patrons and people who read the local newspaper to find new patrons of the library who may not realize we have something they might need.

Hence, having paid for an initial 6 month Meetup membership to try it out and using it for an Adult Board Game Meetup group and a Crafting group, we thought creating a Duxbury Adobe Explorers Meetup group might be a good idea. Almost as soon as we posted our first Meetup for last night, we got 19 members. Eight of them came to our first meeting with 4 others gleaned from traditional sources. Folks from Duxbury, Marshfield and as far afield as West Bridgewater came!

Since we are eager to develop patron interest groups at the Duxbury Free Library, hosting Meetup groups seems like a natural fit. Discussion and feedback are easy to initiate on Meetup and we feel it gives us access to people with serious interests and yet we have control over membership.

With an emphasis on individual use of the resources, we are also trying to create a buzz about our resources AND create on-going interest groups that, hopefully, can provide networking and end up being somewhat self-directed.

Social media companies like Meetup get the word out about your programs to people for whom the subject is a passion!

What is a Makerspace?

A place where people can collaborate, innovate, and create using information, resources, tools, and collections provided at the library. People can play, tinker, explore, or pursue personal or professional goals.

Goals:

Spur innovation and artistic expression through hands-on experiences

Collaborate with the community to explore talents, skills, and expertise